Progress 09/01/12 to 08/31/15

Outputs
Target Audience:Farmers, processors, quick service restaurant industry, industry stakeholders (agricultural chemical and fertilizer companies, food processors, equipment manufacturers, etc.). Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The NWPVD program provides continuing opportunities for training personnel in the science of breeding and genetics, variety development, agronomic management, and postharvest handling, storage and processing quality evaluation of a diverse array of germplasm. On average, the multi-state project engages two to four graduate students, three postdoctoral, five technical, and numerous undergraduate students in the project annually. Extension personnel and industry stakeholders also participate in efforts to grow and evaluate the clonal entries on an annual basis. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results from the PNWVD program are disseminated through field days conducted at all sites (Washington, Idaho and Oregon) and reports to the potato industry during the annual meetings of the WA/OR Potato industry (including a focused half-day session on potato variety development and the annual results from this program) and the ID potato industry. Stakeholders and personnel from major processing companies also attend the annual meetings of the Tri-State and Western Regional potato variety development committees where they receive a summary of the results, provide input into performance and participate in selecting entries to be included in the following year. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The following twelve potato varieties were officially released by the Northwest Potato Variety Development (NWPVD) Program (also known regionally as the Tri-State Program) from 2009-14: Gallatin Russet, Owyhee Russet, Red Sunset, Crimson Red, Purple Pelisse, Sage Russet, AmaRosa, Teton Russet, Palisade Russet, Huckleberry Gold, Yukon Nugget and A84180-8. All varieties developed by the NWPVD Program have been licensed to the Potato Variety Management Institute (PVMI), a non-profit organization working on behalf of the program to promote and market varieties since 2005. Detailed information about these and other NWPVD varieties can be found at www.pvmi.org. The NWPVD Program has had a major impact on the potato industry. The fresh market industry, French fry processors, and chippers have incorporated many Tri-State varieties into their production operations. Ranger, Alturas, and Bannock Russet were the 3rd, 4th and 6th most widely grown varieties in ID in 2014, respectively (NASS, Crop Production, Nov. 2014), and accounted for 19% of planted acres in 2014. Umatilla, Ranger, Alturas and Clearwater Russet were the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 9th most widely grown varieties in WA in 2014, respectively, representing 38% of total acreage. In OR, Ranger, Alturas, Umatilla, Modoc and Clearwater ranked 1st, 4th, 5th, 8th and 10th, respectively, for 50% of total acreage in 2014. Moreover, Ranger, Umatilla, Alturas, Bannock, Clearwater, and Ivory Crisp were the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 14th and 22nd most widely grown potato varieties in the U.S. in 2014 and two additional Tri-State varieties ranked in the top 25. Tri-State varieties represented ~25% of the 2014 U.S. fall crop. Varieties released by the NWPVD Program are now produced on 143,000 acres in the Pacific Northwest with value to growers estimated at approximately $600 million. This impact is expected to increase as new varieties replace Russet Burbank, which accounted for 41% (213,471 A) of the 2014 ID, OR and WA potato crop. The potential for improving the efficiency of N fertilizer use through more efficient varieties is substantial. Most varieties from the NWPVD Program have been evaluated for N use efficiency relative to the industry standard, Russet Burbank. Yield responses of Alpine Russet, Alturas, Classic Russet, Clearwater Russet, Premier Russet, Umatilla Russet, Teton Russet and Palisade Russet to N rates were used to develop N fertilizer requirements based on specific yield goals. Alturas required about 40% less N than Russet Burbank for a given yield goal, while all of the others required about 20-25% less N per unit of yield produced. This increased efficiency would potentially reduce N applied in Northwest potato production systems by about 9 million pounds for an estimated economic savings to growers of approximately $6.5 million. The reduced use of N should also significantly reduce the potential for nitrate-contaminated ground water in the region. Therefore, reducing fertilizer applications by 20-40% per unit of yield would not only provide a considerable economic benefit to growers but would also provide environmental benefits and contribute significantly to the sustainability of potato production systems. As improved varieties are adopted, quality and production efficiency will continue to improve, fertilizer and pesticide inputs will decrease and environmental impact will diminish.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Zommick, D.H., L.O. Knowles and N.R. Knowles. 2014. Tuber respiratory profiles during low temperature sweetening (LTS) and reconditioning of LTS-resistant and susceptible potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) cultivars. Postharvest Biol Tech 92:128-138.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Zommick, D.H., L.O. Knowles, M.J. Pavek and N.R. Knowles. 2014. In-season heat stress compromises postharvest quality and low temperature sweetening resistance in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). Planta 239:1243-1263.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Miller JC Jr., Scheuring DC, Koym JW, Holm DG, Pavek JJ, Novy RG, Whitworth JL, Stark JC, Charlton BA, Yilma S, Knowles NR, Pavek MJ, Nunez JJ, Shock CC, and CR Brown. 2015. 11ATTX961014-1R/Y a.k.a. Sierra RoseTM: A Red-Skin, Yellow-Flesh Potato Cultivar for the Specialty/Gourmet Market. Am J Pot Res 91:447-458.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Kumar, GNM, Knowles LO and NR Knowles. 2015. Zebra chip disease decreases tuber (Solanum tuberosum L.) protein content by attenuating protease inhibitor levels and increasing protease activities. Planta 14 pp DOI 10.1007/s00425-015-2346-9

Progress 09/01/13 to 08/31/14

Outputs
Target Audience: The target audience includes: potato growers (including seed and commercial growers of fresh and processing potatoes); processors; consultants; scientists. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Three graduate students were involved in various aspects of these trials. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Results were reported to stakeholders at the WA/OR and ID annual Potato Conferences and the Western WA Potato Growers meetings in 2013 and 2014. Articles containing results from the project have been published in the AJPR. Results have also been summarized in presentations at the annual potato industry field days (Othello, WA) and annually during the WA Potato Commission research reviews and at similar events in ID and OR. Refereed journal articles have been published. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The following twelve potato varieties were officially released by the Northwest Potato Variety Development (NWPVD) Program (also known regionally as the Tri-State Program) from 2009-13: Gallatin Russet, Owyhee Russet, Red Sunset, Crimson Red, Purple Pelisse, Sage Russet, AmaRosa, Teton Russet, Palisade Russet, Huckleberry Gold, Yukon Nugget and A84180-8 (see Table 1, Appendix, field 12). All varieties developed by the NWPVD Program have been licensed to the Potato Variety Management Institute (PVMI), a non-profit organization working on behalf of the program to promote and market varieties since 2005. Detailed information about these and other NWPVD varieties can be found at www.pvmi.org. In 2013, the Idaho contingent evaluated the productivity and quality of potato clones in 34 trials at six locations across the southern part of the state. Particular emphasis was placed on selecting for potential new varieties with adaptation to local conditions, dual utility with use in both fresh and processing markets, production efficiencies, and multiple disease resistances. There were also 21 acres of single hills (first field generation) evaluated, totaling approximately 90,000 breeding clones and 1,520, 12-hill (second field generation) selections. The third year of trialing at Aberdeen, Idaho for a tetraploid mapping population in the SolCAP project was completed in 2011, with agronomic, disease, and processing data being utilized to link traits of interest in potato, particularly carbohydrate metabolism, with molecular markers. A subset of 43 clones of the tetraploid SolCAP mapping population and their parents were trialed in 2012 and 2013 as a component of the SCRI Acrylamide Reduction project to validate SolCAP marker associations for tuber carbohydrate composition. Such markers can also then be used to facilitate the development of low acrylamide potato varieties. In 2013, the National Fry Processing Trial (NFPT) was continued for a third year with the support of the potato processing industry, United States Potato Board and National Potato Council. The purpose of the trial was to evaluate processing varieties and promising breeding clones from the U.S. breeding programs for agronomics in the field as well as levels of sugars, asparagine, and acrylamide from the field and following extended storage. Aberdeen, ID and Othello, WA were two of five trial sites and were overseen by the ID and WA components of the Tri-State program. Data from the NFPT looks promising for the identification of low acrylamide varieties for the potato industry that also meet QSR processing standards. These include four clones (A02424-83LB, A02507-2LB, A03158-2TE, A06084-1TE) from the Tri-State program, which have been selected for advancement to the SCRI Acrylamide Reduction Agronomic trials in 2014 and which represent 40% of the entries in that trial. Similar to the NFPT, three of the six trial sites of the Acrylamide Reduction Agronomic Trials are overseen by the ID, OR, and WA components of the Tri-State Program. A02507-2LB, A02424-83LB and A03158-2TE have been identified for “fast-tracking” with rapid seed increase in preparation for commercial-scale trials. Progress has continued in identifying corky ringspot resistant germplasm that also has desirable yield, quality and tuber appearance characteristics with further evaluations of breeding material in infected fields. In addition, the breeding program is progressing in the evaluation and identification of germplasm with genetic resistances to potato viruses X and Y (PVX, PVY), Potato leafroll virus (PLRV), late blight (foliar and tuber), nematodes, potato mop-top virus, zebra chip, and potato psyllid (insect vector for Liberibacter responsible for zebra chip). Research detailing resistance to potato psyllid and possible resistance to Liberibacter in germplasm from the Aberdeen breeding program was published (Diaz-Montano, 2014; Butler et al., 2011), as well as the release of a late blight resistant potato cultivar with a low incidence of fry sugar ends (Novy et al., 2012). Research continued in 2013 to evaluate resistance of the advanced Tri-State selections to potato mop-top virus in collaboration with Dr. Chuck Brown, USDA-ARS, Prosser, WA. A bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library was constructed from the genome of S. etuberosum to aid in the fine mapping and cloning of the Rlretb gene (Kelly et al., 2009). This gene, identified at Aberdeen, ID, is a major gene for resistance to PLRV, a primary virus of potato that causes loss of yield, as well as quality through the development of net necrosis in tubers infected with PLRV. Dr. Kuhl (Univ ID) reported on his progress in developing molecular markers closely linked to the Rlretb gene at grower and scientific meetings. A study, funded by the Tri-State Potato Commissions, was also initiated by Dr. Kuhl with ID and OR Tri-State researchers to develop methodology for determining gene dosage of virus and nematode resistance genes. The number of genes present in parental clones can aid potato breeders in designing crosses to facilitate obtaining a larger percentage of resistant progenies. Cold-sweetening resistance is also an objective of the program and Premier Russet and Clearwater Russet are recent examples of our success in this area of research. Such low-sugar varieties also contribute to reductions in acrylamide formation in processed potato products, with reducing sugars being a primary contributor to the formation of acrylamide. In 3 years of trials in the NFPT, Premier Russet was among the lowest for acrylamide among named varieties averaged across sample times and sites, reflective of its low tuber sugar levels. Dakota Trailblazer, which originated as a seedling tuber from the Aberdeen potato breeding program, was also identified as having low levels of acrylamide following evaluations in the NFPT. Asparagine also contributes to acrylamide formation and the lower asparagine concentrations in Teton Russet (Novy et al., 2014) provide the industry with another approach for reducing acrylamide levels in processed potato products.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Whitworth JL, Novy RG, Stark JC, Love SL, Thornton MK, Charlton BA, Yilma S, Knowles NR, Pavek MJ, and X Wang. 2014. Huckleberry Gold: a high antioxidant purple-skin yellow-flesh specialty market cultivar with potato cyst nematode resistance (H1) and Potato virus X resistance (Nb and Rx1). Am J Pot Res 91:447-458.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Novy, R., J. Whitworth, J. Stark, B. Charlton, S. Yilma, V. Sathuvalli, N.R. Knowles, M. Pavek, R. Spear, T. Brandt, N. Olsen, M. Thornton, C. Brown, and J. Debons. 2014. A02507-2LB and A03158-2TE: Promising breeding clones from the Northwest (Tri-State) Potato Variety Development Program. Am. J. Pot. Res (in press).
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Whitworth JL, Novy RG, Stark JC, Love SL, Thornton MK, Charlton BA, Yilma S, Knowles NR, Pavek MJ, and X Wang. 2014. Huckleberry Gold: a high antioxidant purple-skin yellow-flesh specialty market cultivar with potato cyst nematode resistance (H1) and Potato virus X resistance (Nb and Rx1). Am J Pot Res 91:447-458. DOI 10.1007s12230-014-9368-x
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Novy RG, Whitworth JL, Stark JC, Charlton BA, Yilma S, Knowles NR, Pavek MJ, Spear RR, Brandt TL, Olsen N, Thornton M, Brown CR, James SR, and DC Hane. 2014. Teton Russet: an early-maturing, dual-purpose potato cultivar having high protein and vitamin C content, low asparagine, and resistances to common scab and Fusarium dry rot. Am J Pot Res 91:380-393.

Progress 09/01/12 to 08/31/13

Outputs
Target Audience: Target audiences reached in 2012-13 included: seed and commercial growers; fresh market packers and distributors; chip and French fry processing company representatives; storage managers; chemical company representatives; international industry representatives; private consultants; and university and government researchers. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The NWPVD program provides continuing opportunities for training personnel in the science of breeding and genetics, variety development, agronomic management, and postharvest handling, storage and processing quality evaluation of a diverse array of germplasm. On average, the multi-state project engages two to four graduate students, three postdoctoral, five technical, and numerous undergraduate students in the project annually. Extension personnel and industry stakeholders also participate in efforts to grow and evaluate the clonal entries on an annual basis. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Results from the PNWVD program are disseminated through field days conducted at all sites (Washington, Idaho and Oregon) and reports to the potato industry during the annual meetings of the WA/OR Potato industry (including a focused half-day session on potato variety development and the annual results from this program) and the ID potato industry. Stakeholders and personnel from major processing companies also attend the annual meetings of the Tri-State and Western Regional potato variety development committees where they receive a summary of the results, provide input into performance and participate in selecting entries to be included in the following year. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? From 2009 through 2013, the following potato varieties were officially released by the Northwest Potato Variety Development (NWPVD) Program (also known regionally as the Tri-State Program): Classic Russet (2009), Alpine Russet (2009), Clearwater Russet (2009), Owyhee Russet (2009), Red Sunset (2009), Crimson Red (2009), Purple Pelisse (2009), Sage Russet (2010), AmaRosa (2010), Teton Russet (2011), Palisade Russet (2011), Huckleberry Gold (2011) and Yukon Nugget (2013). All varieties developed by the NWPVD Program have been licensed to the Potato Variety Management Institute (PVMI), a non-profit organization working on behalf of the program to promote and market varieties since 2005. Detailed information about these and other NWPVD varieties can be found at www.pvmi.org. The effect of the NWPVD Program on the potato industry has been substantial. The fresh market industry, French fry processors, and chippers have incorporated many NWPVD varieties into their businesses. Ranger Russet, Alturas, Umatilla Russet and Western Russet, were the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th most widely grown varieties in Idaho in 2012, respectively (NASS, Crop Production, November, 2012), and accounted for 17% of the planted acreage in Idaho in 2012. Umatilla, Ranger Russet, Alturas, and Premier Russet were the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 8th most widely grown varieties in WA in 2012, respectively, accounting for 37% of total acreage. In Oregon, Ranger Russet, Umatilla Russet, Alturas, Premier Russet and Bannock Russet ranked 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, and 12th, respectively, and accounted for 38% of total potato acreage. Ranger Russet, Umatilla Russet, Alturas, Premier Russet, and Bannock Russet were also the 3rd, 4th, 7th, 13th, and 14th most widely grown potato varieties in the United States in 2012, with Tri-State varieties representing about 21% of the fall crop nationally. Varieties recently released by the Tri-State program are now produced on over 130,000 acres in the Pacific Northwest with value to growers estimated at approximately $600 million. This impact is expected to increase as new varieties replace Russet Burbank, which accounted for 46% (253,000 A) of the 2012 ID, OR and WA potato crop. Replacement of only half the current Russet Burbank acreage with Tri-State varieties would equal approximately $414 million based on average processing contracts for Russet Burbank. Selected varieties from the NWPVD Program have been evaluated for nitrogen (N) use efficiency relative to the industry standard, Russet Burbank. Yield responses of Alpine Russet, Alturas, Classic Russet, Clearwater Russet, Premier Russet, Umatilla Russet, Teton Russet and Palisade Russet to N rates were used to develop N fertilizer requirements based on specific yield goals. Alturas required about 40% less N than Russet Burbank for a given yield goal, while all of the others required about 20-25% less N. Production of Umatilla Russet, Alturas and Premier Russet in ID, OR, and WA was about 60,000 acres in 2012, potentially reducing the amount of N applied to the soil by 6 million pounds compared with the same acreage planted to Russet Burbank. In 2012, the potential economic savings to NW growers was over $4.3 million. The reduced use of N should also significantly reduce the potential for nitrate-contaminated ground water in the region. Hence, the potential for improving the efficiency of N use through more efficient varieties is substantial. Reducing fertilizer applications by 20-40% per unit of yield produced would not only provide a considerable economic benefit to growers but would also provide environmental benefits and contribute significantly to the sustainability of potato production systems. As improved varieties are adopted, quality and production efficiency will continue to improve, fertilizer and pesticide inputs will decrease, and environmental impact will be lessened.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Blauer, J.M., Knowles, L.O. and N.R. Knowles. 2013. Manipulating stem number, tuber set and size distribution in specialty potato cultivars. Am J Pot Res (online first, DOI 10.1007/s12230-013-9317-0).
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Blauer, J.M., Kumar, G.N.M., Knowles, L.O., Dhingra, A. and N.R. Knowles. 2013. Changes in ascorbate and associated gene expression during development and storage of potato tubers (Solanum tuberosum L.). Postharvest Biol Tech 78:76-91.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Navarre, D.A, Payyavula, R.S., Shakya, R., Knowles, N.R., and S.S. Pillai. 2013. Changes in potato phenylpropanoid metabolism during tuber development. Plant Physiol Biochem 65:89-101.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Blauer, J.M., Knowles, L.O. and N.R. Knowles. 2013. Evidence that tuber respiration is the pacemaker of physiological aging in seed potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.). J Plant Growth Regul (online first May 3, DOI 10.1007/s00344-013-9338-4)
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Mooney, S, Chen, L, Kuhn, C., Navarre, D.A., Knowles, N.R. and H. Hellmann. 2013. Genotype specific changes in vitamin B6 content and the PDX family in potato. BioMed Research International http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/389723
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Zommick D.H., Kumar, G.N.M., Knowles, L.O. and N.R. Knowles. 2013. Translucent tissue defect in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) tubers is associated with oxidative stress accompanying an accelerated aging phenotype. Planta (in press)
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: Brown, C.R., Valves, M., Yilma, S., James, S., Hane, D., Shock, C., Feibert, E., Charlton, B., Culp, D., Pavek, M., Knowles, N.R., Novy, R.G., Whitworth, J.L., Stark, J., Miller, J., Holm, D., Navarre, D.A. 2012. AmaRosa, a red skinned, red fleshed fingerling with high phytonutrient value. Am. J. Pot. Res. 89:249-254.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: Vales MI, Brown CR, Yilma S, Hane DC, James SR, Shock CC, Charlton BA, Karaagac E, Mosley AR, Culp D, Feibert E, Stark JC, Pavek MJ, Knowles NR, Novy RG, and JL Whitworth. 2012. Purple Pelisse: A specialty fingerling potato with purple skin and purple flesh. Am. J. Pot. Res. 89:306-314.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: Yilma S., Vales MI, Charlton BA, Hane DC, James SR, Shock CC, Mosley AR, Culp D, Feibert E, Leroux L, Karaagac E, Knowles NR, Pavek MJ, Stark JC, Novy RG, Whitworth JL, Pavek JJ, Corsini DL, Brandt TL, Olsen N, and CR Brown. 2012. Owyhee Russet: A variety with high yields of U.S. No. 1 tubers, excellent processing quality, and moderate resistance to Fusarium dry rot (Fusarium solani var. coeruleum). Am. J. Pot. Res. 89:175-183.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: Novy, R.G., J.L. Whitworth, J.C. Stark, B.A. Charlton, S. Yilma, N.R. Knowles, M.J. Pavek, T.L. Brandt, S. Gupta, N. Olsen, M. Thornton, C.R. Brown, D.L. Corsini, J.J. Pavek, S.R. James, D.C. Hane, H. Lozoya-Saldana, and M.I. Vales. 2012. Palisade Russet: A late blight resistant potato cultivar having a low incidence of sugar ends and high specific gravity. Am. J. Pot. Res 89:89-101.